Sequence analysis of the plasmid genome of the probiotic strain Lactobacillus paracasei NFBC338 which includes the plasmids pCD01 and pCD02

Lactobacillus paracasei NFBC338 is a probiotic strain that was isolated from the human gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and contains a plasmid genome of ⩾80 kb. Using a shotgun sequencing approach, two of the plasmids, pCD01 (19,882 bp) and pCD02 (8554 bp) have been completely sequenced, and four contiguous sequences (Contigs) have been assembled. Bioinformatic analysis of pCD01 revealed that it contains 23 putative open reading frames (ORFs) and that it contains regions characterised by potential replication functions and multidrug resistance (MDR). In contrast, the content of pCD02 is mainly cryptic, although, it does contain two insertion sequence (IS) elements. Indeed, up to 17% of the entire plasmid genome encodes putative transposable elements. In addition, there are a number of interesting ORFs distributed over the four Contigs that show significant homology to genes such as those involved in adherence and biotin metabolism, which may prove beneficial to Lb. paracasei NFBC338 under certain environmental conditions. This study provides a novel insight into the rich plasmid complement of this probiotic Lactobacillus strain, which may potentially be exploited as the basis for development of improved genetic tools for probiotic lactobacilli.